Broken Pieces
by Smile-21-Hikari-8
Summary: So, Sakura never seemed to have a use, but she found something that she could do. Clean up the broken pieces of her team, of course. After all, who else was going to do it? She is what held them together-but of course no one gives her credit for that.


© Masashi Kishimoto

**Broken Pieces**

Sakura seemed like nothing at the time, really, merely a delicate flower with no apparent use. She was sensible and knowledgeable with admirable control of her body, yet she was not strong nor was she well educated in dealing with blonde haired loud mouths and cold crushes. Her life was a glass platter, and everyone in it-an even more frail collection of crystal figurines.

She was a plain girl admittedly and she knew well enough that she possessed something worth being made fun of: a dramatic team and a big forehead. The latter was made known when she was younger and proved to be a key quality in agitating the bubble gum pink girl. The former was a mixed blessing. People feared the whiskered boy thinking him to be foolishly risky and reckless even though they had yet to see the true potential that the boy had. As for the pale Uchiha, though he was widely admired for his looks and skills, he was an ice chest that was frozen shut and not much of an entertaining teammate. The silver haired (or gray haired, it was arguable) teacher was quite the skilled shinobi and very well known for his quick development at his young age but, it sometimes seemed that he just didn't take his job as seriously as he should. Sakura is what held them together.

Some may think that she's useless, and she knew that. Sakura knew that she wasn't always strong physically or emotionally and that she sometimes didn't quite see things the same way that others did but what is a team without a mother figure? If she wasn't there in that group of guys who would be there to tame the overactive blonde when he goes overboard? Who would distract the revenge seeking boy when he got lost in his past? And, really now, who would yell at their frequently tardy teacher for being a pervert? Sakura knows that she is not the most skillful shinobi in the village but she can at least do these things plus some.

She's the one that is the maddest at Kakashi when he is late because she knows that he's a liar when it comes to his horrible excuses and she knows that everything the team does is dependent on Kakashi's training. Naruto's dream and Sasuke's ambition are supported by the quality of their teacher's practices. It is obvious that even if he's late, Kakashi still has a grueling exercise set up for them that they always put their blood, sweat and tears into, quite literally in most cases, and it is true that Kakashi is a very serious instructor, but when he is late on a frequent basis Sakura isn't one that can stand it. She's made it her mission to get his act together and to straighten out his crooked habits because she knows that time is money and that time is equally valuable to her team members who she knows has goals much bigger than her's.

On the subject of her team brothers, though it looks like they don't need her, they really can't live without Sakura. She is the one that disciplines Naruto with her own rough way and though she baby's Sasuke, it does both of them good. Naruto does not learn well with gentle cooing, rather, he doesn't listen at all unless he receives one of Sakura's infamous punches to his head. Sakura likes to point out that Naruto is crazy and rash but she knows more than anyone that he is a good boy on the inside. Though she thinks it ridiculous, she supports his dream of becoming Hokage, and has no doubt that he will prove everyone wrong. She's the one that guides him back on track when he loses it, the one that knocks some common sense into him, and the one that revives his crippled spirit with her rough encouragement and silent wishes.

To Sasuke, she is merely a girl. A teammate. And she likes it that way. Sakura likes the responsibility that comes with being Sasuke's teammate because he relies on her both in battle and during training and it allows her to tease him and be friends with the stiff stud. Sakura likes to make sure he eats well and so she usually brings him lunch. Though Naruto's diet is just as bad, she knows that he'd at least eat something. Sasuke on the other hand is rarely seen eating and seems to have a diet that is nothing but onigiri and tomatoes. That's why he was so pale! But she knew that he spent his time training harder than anybody else. And sometimes when she'd talk to him, she'd realize that occasionally he gets lost in his thoughts. She is the one that notices the tweak in his expression that tells her that it's a bad thing he's thinking of. And she's taken it upon herself to get his attention and distract him from his bad thoughts whether it be with her flirtations or by acting on par of Naruto. She knows that it's stupid, but she knows that this is all she can do.

And, when Naruto and Sasuke get into arguments and fights with each other she's the one that mends the broken bones, bandages the sores and cuts, and picks up the broken pieces of their relationship and carefully glues it back together. It is because of her that they make up with each other just in time for training the next day. It is because of her that they've become closer (whether it be forced on them or not).

And when the team broke up, Sakura was the one that kept Kakashi from becoming an alcoholic. His very first team had fallen apart and he was devastated. But, though she bawled her eyes out, it was enough to persuade the silver haired ninja that he was better than that and that he'd have to stay strong for what remained of his team. And it was because of Sakura that Naruto worked super extra hard while training so that he can get the team back together as one. And even though he was the one that left, it was because of Sakura that Sasuke resolved to kill no one else but his brother during his stay at Orochimaru's. She was one of the very few that at least taught him compassion. They've taken it upon themselves to pick up the broken pieces of her hard work and make something of it, to show her that it wasn't all worthless.


End file.
